Once there were giants

December 24, 2012|Paul Greenberg | Tribune Media Services

"Second Lieutenant Daniel K. Inouye distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 21 April 1945, in the vicinity of San Terenzo, Italy. While attacking a defended ridge guarding an important road junction, Second Lieutenant Inouye skillfully directed his platoon through a hail of automatic weapon and small arms fire, in a swift enveloping movement that resulted in the capture of an artillery and mortar post and brought his men to within 40 yards of the hostile force. Emplaced in bunkers and rock formations, the enemy halted the advance with crossfire from three machine guns.

"With complete disregard for his personal safety, Second Lieutenant Inouye crawled up the treacherous slope to within five yards of the nearest machine gun and hurled two grenades, destroying the emplacement. Before the enemy could retaliate, he stood up and neutralized a second machine gun nest. Although wounded by a sniper's bullet, he continued to engage other hostile positions at close range until an exploding grenade shattered his right arm. Despite the intense pain, he refused evacuation and continued to direct his platoon until enemy resistance was broken and his men were again deployed in defensive positions. In the attack, 25 enemy soldiers were killed and eight others captured. By his gallant, aggressive tactics and by his indomitable leadership, Second Lieutenant Inouye enabled his platoon to advance through formidable resistance, and was instrumental in the capture of the ridge."

--Medal of Honor citation

"Daniel Inouye's career in the United States Senate was as distinguished as it was extensive. He helped steer this nation through triumphs and tragedies, victories and defeats. And he towered above us all with his incredible gallantry and heroism in the Second World War. His passing leaves a long shadow in Congress."

--Chairman Howard McKeon of the House Armed Services Committee

It may not be easy to credit now, but once upon a time the United States Senate could be seriously described as "the world's greatest deliberative body."

The phrase applied to more than the early 19th century, which is when the great triumvirate of Webster, Clay and Calhoun dominated the Senate's deliberations and made it an Athenian forum. They lacked only one quality -- a proper appreciation for the obdurate power of a moral issue. In their case, and especially John C. Calhoun's, it was their failure to apprehend and fully engage the unavoidable, the inescapable, the intractable issue of human slavery.

. . .

Even a conflicted slaveholder like Thomas Jefferson could recognize that, despite all the Great Compromises (first1820, then 1850, and then the terrible pact with the Devil in 1854 that prefaced and presaged The War), once a geographical line had been drawn across the Republic separating free from slave states, a fire bell had tolled in the night. As he put in his "Notes on Virginia": "And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever...."

It didn't. And the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword was unleashed. There were not just giants in those days but prophets.

Even lesser figures of that time -- the brilliant eccentric John Randolph of Roanoke and the heroic Charles Sumner -- would put today's nonentities and sonorities in the Senate to shame.

Every institution has its fallow seasons, and the Senate seemed to go into eclipse after The War, as one row of forgettable, indistinguishable, interchangeable portraits succeeded another. But the Senate would rise again in the next century and give birth to a new generation of giants. There was Fighting Bob LaFollete, who bestrode the Senate when Progressive was still an honorable designation, and Robert A. Taft, Mr. Republican -- and Mr. Integrity. Not to mention steely Margaret Chase Smith of rockbound Maine, who wasn't afraid of Joe McCarthy or any other bully. And an ex-Marine named Paul Douglas of Illinois, Land of Lincoln, who would never cease fighting for freedom. At home or abroad.

. . .

Great senators may differ in their ideas, their parties, their passions ... but it is not their causes that are most missed now but their greatness. It's as if a race of giants has been succeeded by one of pygmies.